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The unintended effects of cash transfers on fertility: evidence from the Safe Motherhood Scheme in India

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  • Arindam Nandi
  • Ramanan Laxminarayan

Abstract

India launched the Safe Motherhood Scheme (Janani Suraksha Yojana or JSY) in 2005 in response to persistently high maternal and child mortality rates. JSY provides a cash incentive to socioeconomically disadvantaged women for childbirth at health facilities. This study explores some unintended consequences of JSY. Using data from two large household surveys, we examine a policy variation that exploits the differential incentive structure under JSY across states and population subgroups. We find that JSY may have resulted in a 2.5–3.5 percentage point rise in the probability of childbirth or pregnancy over a 3-year period in states already experiencing high population growth. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Arindam Nandi & Ramanan Laxminarayan, 2016. "The unintended effects of cash transfers on fertility: evidence from the Safe Motherhood Scheme in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 457-491, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:29:y:2016:i:2:p:457-491
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-015-0576-6
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    3. Damian Clarke & Gustavo Cortés Méndez & Diego Vergara Sepúlveda, 2020. "Growing together: assessing equity and efficiency in a prenatal health program," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 883-956, July.
    4. Sayli Javadekar & Kritika Saxena, 2021. "The Seen and the Unseen: Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Prenatal Sex Selection," IHEID Working Papers 15-2021, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    5. Sonia Laszlo & Muhammad Farhan Majid & Laëtitia Renée, 2024. "Conditional cash transfers and women's reproductive choices," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), February.
    6. Somdeep Chatterjee & Prashant Poddar, 2021. "From Safe Motherhood to Cognitive Ability: Exploring Intrahousehold and Intergenerational Spillovers," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(352), pages 1075-1106, October.
    7. Tulasi Malini Maharatha & Sumirtha Gandhi & Umakant Dash, 2021. "Has the Demand and Supply-side Components of Janani Suraksha Yojana Augmented the Uptake of Maternal Health Care Services among Poor Women in India ? : An Application of Hybrid Matching Technique," BASE University Working Papers 08/2021, BASE University, Bengaluru, India.
    8. Santiago Garganta & Leonardo Gasparini & Mariana Marchionni & Mariano Tappatá, 2017. "The Effect of Cash Transfers on Fertility: Evidence from Argentina," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, February.
    9. Paula von Haaren & Stefan Klonner, 2021. "Lessons learned? Intended and unintended effects of India's second‐generation maternal cash transfer scheme," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2468-2486, September.
    10. Aizawa, T.;, 2019. "Reviewing the Existing Evidence of the Conditional Cash Transfer in India through the Partial Identification Approach," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 19/24, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Rahman, Mohammad Mahbubur & Pallikadavath, Saseendran, 2018. "How much do conditional cash transfers increase the utilization of maternal and child health care services? New evidence from Janani Suraksha Yojana in India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 164-183.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Janani Suraksha Yojana; JSY; Conditional cash transfer; Fertility; India; JEL Codes; J1; I1; O1;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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